Wales begin summer tour with a 6-24 win over Tonga

Tonga 6-22 Wales, Eden Park
Scorecard

Wales registered their maiden victory at Eden Park after they completed a hard fought 6-22 win over Tonga in their opening game of the summer tour on Friday.

With 12 players missing out on the tour due to British and Irish Lions commitments, interim head coach Robin McBryde named three uncapped players in the line-up.

Winger Alex Cuthbert almost crossed over in the second minute but was forced into touch. Instead, fly-half Sam Davies kicked a penalty to get Wales to a 0-3 start. Tane Takulua had a chance to get Tonga off the mark but his penalty went wide of the posts as they continued to trail by three points.

Both teams continued to make errors as Davies kicked two more penalties that hit the posts but Cuthbert finally broke the shackles as he went past the line in the 18th minute but the fly-half missed the conversion. Wales had a lead 0-8 at that stage.

Tonga finally got off the mark in the 22nd minute through a penalty from Takulua as they went into half time, trailing by five points.

The start of the second half saw both Takulua and Davies exchange penalties as Wales maintained their five point lead. As Tonga fly-half Latiume Fosita was penalised, Davies kicked his third penalty to increase the lead to eight points.

Even though, Tonga pushed hard in the closing stages, Davies, who had a mixed game slotted his fourth penalty while a strong scrum from Wales earned them another seven points through a penalty try as they sealed a 6-22 victory.